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Elizabeth (biblical figure)

Elizabeth (also spelled Elisabeth; Hebrew: אֱלִישֶׁבַע "My God is abundance", Standard Hebrew: Elišévaʿ, Tiberian Hebrew: ʾĔlîšéḇaʿ; Greek: Ἐλισάβετ Elisabet / Elisavet) was the mother of John the Baptist, the wife of Zechariah, and maternal aunt of Mary, mother of Jesus, according to the Gospel of Luke and in Islamic tradition. She was past normal child-bearing age when she conceived and gave birth to John.

"Saint Elisabeth" redirects here. For other saints of this name, see Saint Elizabeth.


Elizabeth

1st century BC
One of the hills of Judea

1st century BC (or early AD)

  • 5 November (Roman Catholic)
  • 5 September (Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican)

Apocrypha[edit]

Elizabeth is mentioned in several books of the Apocrypha, most prominently in the Protevangelion of James, in which the birth of her son, the subsequent murder of her husband, as well as her and John's miraculous escape during the Massacre of the Innocents are chronicled.

Sainthood[edit]

Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on 5 November, and in the Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican traditions on 5 September, on the same day with her husband Zacharias/Zechariah. She is commemorated as a matriarch in the Calendar of Saints (5 September) of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and Zacharias is commemorated as a prophet.[5]


She is also commemorated on 30 March in Eastern Orthodox Church (Visitation).[6][7]

Mandaeism[edit]

In Mandaeism, Enišbai (Classical Mandaic: ࡏࡍࡉࡔࡁࡀࡉ, romanized: ʿnišbai) is the Mandaic name for Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Enišbai is mentioned in chapters 18, 21, and 32 of the Mandaean Book of John.[14][15]

Gospel of Luke

Visitation (Catholic feast)

traditional home town of Elizabeth, Zechariah and John

Ein Kerem

Biblical figures in Islamic tradition

Saint Elizabeth, patron saint archive

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Hail Mary". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

public domain

Stained glass depiction of Elizabeth and Zachary, Cathédrale Saint-Etienne de Bourges